How accurate are my logs???

stephanieluvspb

So I bought a scale and I'm using it always but how accurate are the food entries on mfp? For example, if you put in chicken breast up pops a ton all with different numbers, so I googled "calories in chicken breast" and the same damn thing, 5 trillion different suggestions. So what do you guys do? I've been using the suggestion with the lowest calories but maybe I'm eating to much now so i just wanted other peoples input

wilsoje74

Depends on the weight of the chicken

onefortyone

I know your pain. I think a lot of MFP'ers are deluding themselves when they make entries - they put such low calories that it can't be right. I personally look up the item on the USDA website - I google "<foodname> USDA nutritional value" and it usually comes up. Then I either make an entry with that (labelling it USDA info) or I find an entry whose calories match what the USDA website says. You can only do this for whole foods though (like meat, vegetables, etc), not junk or recipes.

Hope this helps!

stephanieluvspb

I know your pain. I think a lot of MFP'ers are deluding themselves when they make entries - they put such low calories that it can't be right. I personally look up the item on the USDA website - I google "<foodname> USDA nutritional value" and it usually comes up. Then I either make an entry with that (labelling it USDA info) or I find an entry whose calories match what the USDA website says. You can only do this for whole foods though (like meat, vegetables, etc), not junk or recipes.

Hope this helps!

Thank you! I'm going to use that this evening for dinner

KatieMae75

Often, I'll add my own foods based directly of the nutrition label of what I'm eating. Chicken is tricky because it will depend on what it is seasoned with, and how it is processed (some are preserved with a solution of broth and salt). When you check a food on the list, your best bet is to use the ones that have many member confirmations.

Tiernan1212

Read up on this link, it provides a lot of overall info for logging more accurately:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide

And great job weighing with a scale! It has made a HUGE difference for me :flowerforyou:

lemurcat12

Checking it with a trusted site (or with the label, because I've done some where it either changed or was put in incorrectly) is a good rule. Also, there are some ways to evaluate existing entries for whole food items. First, try to avoid the ones with asterisks, as that means that they were user submitted. Those without are MFP submitted and should have the same information you find on the USDA site or the like. Second, it matters whether you are weighing it raw or cooked. In some cases, like if you are pulling meat from a whole, bone-in chicken, cooked is unavoidable, but raw is usually more accurate, since cooked is variable depending on how long you cook it, preparation, etc.--it's about water loss. So I usually search for something like "chicken breast raw" and then pick the applicable one without an asterisk (and the first time I use it check the other site, although if there are 350 confirmations, that's generally safe for an item that's not going to change. If there are no confirmations, well, caveat logger, so double check.)

lemurcat12

Oh, I was trying to find that link that Tiernan1212 supplied to link here. Definitely read it.